Emanuel is responsible for the ‘from ruins to riches’ architectural transformation of mid century built ROSA ET AL, as well as curating the interior’s design. The result is an atmosphere that, once you cross the threshold, guests enter a space that is decidedly one of chillness, slowness and very conducive for CTFD (Calm the F* down) in the most enjoyable of ways.
BATALHA SERVICE APARTMENT
While offering all the benefits modern technology has to offer, Rosa ET AL has created the illusion of disconnecting with it. The initial restoration “cleaned the space back to its original beauty and charm, discarding what was added after the original construction.
“We do believe that slowing and calming our daily life is the ultimate luxury. Like the building, which is is stripped to its essentials, attention is on details, not just in architectural terms but also in the relation with other people, namely our guests.”
NHAP
And what of the interior’s design, where and how did you select the furnishings?
Emanuel Sousa
“The process of acquiring furniture was truly unruled and varied. Our restaurant space is in fact an entire 1950s East Berlin Café that we bought looking at a vintage picture of the Berlin space.”
“Some pieces came from London, where Patricia and myself were living at the time of the refurbishment. We love vintage furniture, especially twentieth century pieces, good design and good construction. We thought the furniture would make a nice ‘bridge’ between the nineteenth-century structure and the contemporary living that we would like to create with this hospitality project. From then on, we just curated the furniture collection to give life to these spaces recounting the history of design throughout the twentieth-century, with well-known and iconic pieces but also with others that were just too good a design to be forgotten, namely mid-century Portuguese pieces.”
In terms of designers / brands and shops, the townhouse is decorated with a range of vintage, modern and contemporary design furniture and objects, including pieces by Charles and Ray Eames (Plastic Chair (1950)), Jean Prouvé (‘Cité’ lounge chair (1930) / ‘Potence’ wall lighting (1950) both sourced https://www.vitra.com), Hans Wegner (GE290 Plank Lounge Chair, Getama, Denmark, 1950s), amongst others less know designers, even some unknown, but also brilliant designers as the pieces speak by themselves.
ROSA ET AL GARDEN PAVILLON
Other Portuguese designers found in ROSA ET AL include:
DELIGHTFULL (http://www.delightfull.eu/en/)
CASA ALMADA (http://www.casaalmada.com )
In addition, the hotel also features pieces made by Emanuel, for example, the reception and tea table, as well as some of the other seating on the property, sourced from the old Riga flooring that could not be saved but was perfectly recycled to make beautiful and rich long benches.
Check out the Rosa ET AL website for more info and booking: http://www.rosaetal.com/
Rosa ET AL Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rosaetaltownhouse/
